Ultimate Beef Nachos

I was recently on my regular shopping trip to Costco with my BF. One of the things I like to do once we have all our necessary food and drinks in the cart, is to swing by the boutique (ahem...tables of clothes) and the books. I love looking through their selection of cookbooks....as if I don't have enough already!! And I always think....I haven't even tried a third of the recipes sitting on my bookshelf. But every new cookbook, with all it's beautiful and colorful pictures, takes me back to the wonderful aromas, and flavors and happy, smiling faces of satisfied diners in my kitchen. I'm usually impressed by The Pioneer Woman's and The Barefoot Contessa's cookbooks...I just love them, and I only have one of each. Hint, hint....

But this time my BF gravitated towards a Mexican recipes cookbook. He loves Mexican food....thank goodness, right? And I kinda thought to myself....really?? You want to buy ME a Mexican cookbook???...And in an offended but reserved manner, I proceeded to open it and flip through it...and I thought....hmmmm...maybe this isn't too bad. I mean I can't remember ever having 7-layer dip, pumpkin seed dip or even chimichangas for that matter, in Mexico City. But I figured these recipes looked yummy and I'm sure the boys can use a break from my regular Mexican Traditional Recipes and try something a little different. So we bought it.

The cookbook is American's Test Kitchen Special Collector's Edition, The Best Mexican Recipes.

As soon as we arrived home, my BF requested the nachos in the cookbook, so I got to work. It was a success....wow. My BF loved them, my teenage boys loved them...and heck, I loved them. So here's the recipe for The Ultimate Beef Nachos.

2 teaspoons vegetable oil
1 small onion, chopped fine
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon minced fresh oregano or 1/4 teaspoon dried
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander (I didn't have this so I skipped it)
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/8 teaspoon salt
8 ounces 90 percent lean ground beef (next time I'll use turkey...we just like it better)
8 ounces tortilla chips
1 pound cheddar cheese, shredded (4 cups)...I would use more!
2 large jalapeno chiles, stemmed and sliced thin
2 scallions, sliced thin
1 1/2 cups guacamole, here's my recipe
1 cup fresh tomato salsa (I skipped this and used our salsa verde)
1/2 cup sour cream
lime wedges

Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat over to 400 degrees.

Heat oil in 12-inch skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Add onion and cook until softened, about 3 minutes. Stir in chili powder, garlic, oregano, cumin, coriander, cayenne, and salt and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add beef and cook, breaking up meat with wooden spoon, until no longer pink, about 5 minutes.

Spread half tortilla chips evenly into 13" x 9" baking dish. Sprinkle 2 cups evenly over chips, actually I will do more next time, then top evenly with half of beef mixture, followed by half of jalapeno slices. Repeat layering with remaining chips, cheddar beef mixture, and jalapenos. Bake until cheese is melted and just beginning to brown, 7 to 10 minutes.

Let nachos cool for 2 minutes, then sprinkle with scallions. Drop scoops of guacamole, salsa and sour cream around the edges of the nachos. Serve immediately, passing lime wedges separately.

Perfect recipe for lots of boys and during football games. Crowd pleaser! I'll definitely be making these again.

Provecho!

Check out items you might need for this recipe at Sur La Table: